Former Honolulu Mayor Frank F. Fasi, the combative populist visionary who guided the city for 22 years, died last night at his Makiki home of natural causes. He was 89.

Fasi's feisty hand guided the growth of Honolulu through his six terms as mayor starting in 1968. He served from 1968-1980 and again from 1984-1994.

A maverick throughout a political career that began in 1950, he was mayor longer than anyone else in Honolulu's history.

His survivors include his wife of 51 years, Joyce, 11 children and numerous grandchildren.

Fasi excelled as Honolulu's mayor, to the point that he could win an election with the slogan: “;Thank you, Mr. Mayor.”;

But he wanted more, either to be governor or a member of Congress, and mounted quest after quest for a political promotion.

Once after losing one of his five races for governor Fasi was asked what he would run for next and the always combative politician reminded reporters: “;The Pope is an elected office.”;

“;City Hall seemed to be his niche,”; recalls Walter Heen, who served as City Council chairman when Fasi was first elected mayor and is now an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee. “;People seemed to be happy with him in municipal government.”;

Fasi had the political knack of casting himself as the sole force battling the establishment for the “;little guy.”; Often Honolulu's two daily newspapers served as Fasi's enemy.

Helen G. Chapin in her “;Shaping history: The role of newspapers in Hawaii”; wrote of Fasi's “;Masterful use of the press to gain and solidify his influence with the public.

“;The papers would periodically attack him for his quarrels with the City Council, his use or misuse of campaign funds, his awarding or not awarding contracts, his language, dress and demeanor.

“;The dynamic was that he would accuse the press of attacking him when it questions or criticized him; the press automatically responding, would repeat the charges; his image as the little guy fighting the power structure would be strengthened.”;

In 46 years of campaigns, Fasi won less than half of the time, but he emphasized the successes and his lasting impact on Honolulu's civic, cultural and political life is undeniable.

“;He always knew where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do, even when you disagreed with him, you had to admit he had a certain panache,”; Heen said.

Asked why he thought Fasi kept on running, Heen said “;Frank had an ego as big as Diamond Head and he had to feed it ... He was convinced he knew what was best.”;

That stubborn streak helped Fasi create the city bus system when he battled the privately-controlled Honolulu Rapid Transit system that was fighting with striking bus drivers and leaving Honolulu commuters stranded.

Fasi went around the problem and ordered Honolulu start up its own bus system. He and Corporation Counsel Paul Devens hopped an afternoon flight to Dallas to buy buses and arrange for them to be brought to Honolulu.

“;I remember drafting the legal contract on the flight and handing the contract on a yellow legal pad to the Dallas corporation counsel,”; Davens recalled. “;We managed to find 60 more buses and when they arrived, he drove one on the street off the pier and we fought the HRT all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and won.”;

“;Whether it was the farmer's market, public transportation, satellite city halls, underneath it all was that boldness and toughness, his idea of making it work with new ideas,”; said Devens.

In a Star-Bulletin interview years ago, Fasi listed his political heroes as Democrats Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy.

During his long political career, Fasi was called ambitious, crafty, ruthless and an opportunist given to self-promotion. He also was considered a dedicated public servant, a tough and fearless fighter for “;the little guy.”;

Although a Democrat, he was not part of the local political establishment and was forced to champion projects with the broadest appeal. For instance, Fasi created both the system of satellite city halls and the elected neighbor boards.

Another part of daily Honolulu life, the open markets around town were started by Fasi to help farmers sell produce directly.

At the same time, he transformed the downtown Honolulu Capitol District with the creation of the park linking the city and state buildings with the one-time controversial “;Skygate”; sculpture by Isamu Noguchi.

Fasi also is known for bribery allegations in 1976 associated with Kukui Plaza, a $50 million urban renewal project. An investigation by the state attorney general's office led to bribery indictments against Fasi and his former campaign treasurer, Harry C.C. Chung. Charges were dropped after the star witness refused to testify.

Fasi never saw himself as a loser despite the fact that he lost in a majority of his 21 bids for public office. The most painful were the two substantial defeats he suffered when he ran for governor in 1974 and 1978, losing to George Ariyoshi in both Democratic primary elections.

One dubious memorial to Fasi is the “;resign to run”; amendment to the state Constitution in 1978, after Fasi had several times run for governor while still serving as mayor.

Born Aug. 27, 1920, in Hartford, Conn., Fasi spent his childhood in poverty. As the son of Sicilian immigrants, he helped his father deliver ice.

The experience left him determined to fight injustice and prejudice, Fasi told the Star-Bulletin in an interview.

“;I haven't forgotten my roots,”; he said.

Young Fasi excelled in school, both as athlete and a scholar. He graduated from Trinity College in Hartford on a scholarship, majoring in history.

He came to Hawaii in 1944 as a Marine lieutenant, then resigned his commission after World War II. He said later he was disillusioned by racial prejudice he saw in the military. He described the officer corps as “;mainly white.”;

Like so many mainland servicemen, Fasi stayed in Hawaii after leaving the Marines, marrying a Kauai woman—Florence Ohama, his first wife—and working as a civilian with the Army Engineers. He soon quit the clerical job to go into business for himself as a surplus materials dealer. The Frank F. Fasi Supply Co., which also offered general contracting and held valuable Kalihi land, was the foundation of Fasi's personal finances.

He joined the Democratic Party of Hawaii in 1948 and began his long and tumultuous career in Hawaii politics two years later. He lost as a candidate for the Constitutional Convention and, also in 1950, as a candidate for the territorial House of Representatives.

Fasi recalled that it was following a run-in with the city over permit violations that he decided to take his battle directly into City Hall.

Fasi, by then a Democratic national committeeman, launched a campaign against Democratic Mayor John Wilson. He lost in the 1952 primary but in the 1954 mayoral primary, Fasi beat Wilson—only to be beaten by Republican Neal Blaisdell.

Fasi's challenge to Wilson alienated him from the late Gov. John Burns, a close friend of Wilson, and left the Connecticut native on the outside of the Democratic Party establishment. Burns passed that tightly knit political organization to his successor, Ariyoshi, and Fasi was destined to remain an outsider.

The young politician made a third bid for mayor in 1956, but withdrew from the race due to his wife's illness. He and the mother of five of his children were divorced in 1957.

Fasi married the former Joyce Kono in 1958, the same year he won a seat in the territorial Senate.

There were three more defeats—in tries for the U.S. Senate, mayor and U.S. House—before 1964 when Fasi was to win the City Council seat which provided the springboard for his successful leap into the third-floor mayor's office in 1968.

With the exception of what he called a “;forced sabbatical,”; from 1980 to 1984 when Democrat Eileen Anderson was mayor, Fasi dominated city politics for two decades.

He was incensed when the Democratic Party powers fielded Anderson—a close Ariyoshi ally—against him after he had held the reins for three terms. It was the final straw in a long series of rebuffs.

The longtime Democrat switched parties to become a Republican in 1984, but his switch was seen largely as a tactical move, allowing him to skip a costly primary race.

Fasi later bolted from the GOP to launch a third-party bid for governor in 1994 after Republican leaders favored former U.S. Rep. Patricia Saiki as their nominee. For a 1998 primary run against Linda Lingle for governor, he was again a Republican.

Fasi declared that then-Maui Mayor “;Linda Lingle will be elected governor when the queen of England becomes the next pope of the Catholic Church.”;

Fasi famously turned on his former protege Jeremy Harris, who served as Fasi's city manager for a decade, then became mayor when Fasi resigned in 1994 to run for governor. Fasi lost his governor bid and unsuccessfully challenged Harris for mayor in 1996 and 2000.

Developer and politician D.G. “;Andy”; Anderson said in 2000 that he also had experienced Fasi's cold shoulder. “;There's no gray. It's all black and white with Frank. If you are supporting him, then you are his friend. If you aren't supporting him, then you are his enemy,”; Anderson said.

“;You either love Frank or you hate Frank. I still like Frank. It's just we don't speak to each other anymore,”; Anderson said.

Fasi's more than two decades at the helm of Honolulu Hale were a time when the city administration had to grow as Honolulu was growing from hometown to metropolis.

At the top of his own list of highlights was the city's purchase of the privately owned bus system in 1971.

Fasi instituted satellite city halls, Peoples' Open Market, the one-way street traffic pattern and governed at a time when facilities from parks to sewage treatment plants had to expand to accommodate the burgeoning population.

He took particular pleasure at the greening of the City Hall complex, wiping out blocks of Hotel Street parking for parkland, later building the underground garage and topping it off with a child-care center for city employees' children.

His flamboyant and combative style mellowed in later years. It was the style as much as the substance that led many fellow officeholders as well as grass-roots voters to either love or hate the man.

At one time, he affected a white cowboy hat and gave out “;good guy”; awards. He was also known for often being accompanied by his springer spaniel, Gino the First Dog.

Along with his wife, Joyce, he is survived by their children, Charles, Frank Jr., Gina, David, Gioia Fasi Arrillaga and Salvador, as well as his children from a previous marriage, Toni, Kathleen, Carl, Paul and Francesca Brittain. Funeral arrangements are pending.